From humble beginnings in 1976, the Hong Kong Sevens has grown into the city's leading sports event, famed throughout the world. This year, as the tournament celebrates 40 years, we're taking a ride through the SCMP archives to see how the event became the jewel in the sevens crown.

And if you see yourself or a friend in any of the pictures in our eight-part series, click here to enter your best memories of the Sevens and the most original/entertaining answers will win a pair of three-day tickets to this year’s Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens from March 27-29.

We begin part 6 in 2001, Karl Te Nana was the star as New Zealand retained their title, beating - you guessed it - Fiji 29-5 to win for an eighth time.

Fiji coach Tomasi Cama did the unthinkable and dropped his old teammate Waisale Serevi - it backfired badly as they missed their talisman.

Hong Kong won another Bowl competition - with Ricky Cheuk Ming-yin becoming the first local Chinese player to score a try in the tournament.

And the event was also notable for being the first sellout since the financial woes of 1997. Now of course, tickets are rarer than hen's teeth.

In 2002 England won the competition for the first time ever, becoming only the fifth nation to have done so.

Their inspiration in the rain was Ben Gollings, who would go on to be the Sevens World Series all-time top scorer, as they beat the fancied Fijians 33-20, to become only the second northern hemisphere side to win since the Barbarians in 1981.

Teenager James Simpson-Daniel scored a hat-trick in the final - he would go on to win 10 caps for the England XVs team.

2003 saw the tournament threatened by what was then being called an "atypical pneumonia outbreak".

At that stage, 12 people had died as a result of what came to be known as Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome).

The HKRFU and the IRB, on the advice of the government, chose to go ahead and more than 30,000 fans turned up on Sunday.

Many treated the threat with customary drunken disdain, most scorning the free face scarves that were handed out at the stadium - a "safety precaution" ridiculed by some medical experts.

Though some even dressed up in hazmat suits and gas masks, most were confident the amount of alcohol they imbibed could kill off any infection.

"We are very pleased that the tournament went ahead successfully. The most important thing was that we gave the public the option of whether to come or not. The choice was left to the individual and I'm glad to say most people turned up," Hong Kong Rugby Football Union chairman John Molloy told the SCMP.

On the pitch, England retained their title, beating New Zealand 22-17. Substitute Richard Haughton sealed the win with two tries for England, who wanted to win for a late teammate, Nick Duncombe, who had died of meningitis.

In 2005, the tournament saw the return of the Sevens World Cup, making Hong Kong the only city to have hosted the event twice.

Waisale Serevi, now a veteran, was back for Fiji, and sure enough, he led them to another World Cup win as they beat defending champions New Zealand 29-19 in a thriller.

"This is a big thing for Fiji as we're just a small nation," said 36-year-old Serevi, named player of the tournament and who also starred when the World Cup was last held in Hong Kong (1997) when Fiji also won. "They should hold the World Cup in Hong Kong every time."